X-man is newest star

The hours of driving finally paid off.

Anthony Snell, who lives more than 90 miles away from Portland in Xenia, Ohio, was crowned Wednesday as the champion of the sixth Stars in the Park talent competition during the finals held at the Jay County Fair.

“I felt like I was blessed by God himself,” said Snell, 24, who thrust his right fist in the air when he was announced as the champion. He added that he hopes the victory is just the first step toward a singing career. “It may be a competition in a small town, but this still means a lot to me. Plenty of those people I know had talent … so when I see people like that able to do so well, but then I come out on top, that just means that I have more to do.”

For his efforts, he walked away with the $1,250 grand prize.

Snell became the third singer to win the competition, following inaugural champion Holly Rittenhouse, who was a judge for Wednesday’s finals, and 2014 winner Gabe Bailey. Other champions were dancing duo Jamie Squared (Jamie Razo and Jamie Harshman), magician/comedian Dick Stoner and guitarist Hunter Lee.

“The contestants were awesome, all of them, but Anthony stood out probably because of him singing opera, him singing a very, very difficult number. And he killed it,” said judge Patti Stahl of Fort Recovery. “I’ve seen him sing several times, and this is definitely his best performance. He deserved to win.”

In what seemed to be a theme for the event, Snell was not a newcomer to Stars in the Park. Despite the long-distance drive — Xenia is located on the southwest side of Dayton, Ohio, nearly a two-hour drive from Jay County Fairgrounds — he kept coming back.

This was his fourth try.

“I always had a lot of support from the people who ran the event,” said Snell, who was born in Cleveland, moved to Akron, Ohio, and has spent most of his life in the Dayton area.

He led an all-Buckeye top three as he finished ahead another veteran, Breanna Romer, 18, St. Henry, Ohio, who claimed the No. 2 slot for the second time. She was also the first runner-up to Rittenhouse in 2013.

Second runner-up Brandon Hosler, 15, Pitsburg, Ohio, was also a return contestant, as were the Jay County residents who were voted fan favorites — Jessie Duncan in the 18-and-older division and the trio of 17-year-olds Karlie Bullard, Matalin Racster and Chloe Combs in the 17-and-younger division.

To make the finals two weeks ago, Snell performed a version of the Ed Sheeran song “Perfect” in which Sheeran sings part of the song traditionally with opera star Andrea Bocelli then joining the duet in Italian.

Snell went back to the Bocelli well again for the finals, performing “Con te partiró” (“Time to Say Goodbye”) in Italian. The performance brought some of the spectators at the fairgrounds grandstand to their feet, an indication of the championship to come.

“It’s a song that I’ve sung before when I was younger, though it didn’t sound nearly as good as it did now,” said Snell, a senior music major at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. “Rather than seeing it as the original vision where he’s saying goodbye to run away with a woman, I see it as me chasing my passion. … I sort of put myself in his shoes, but chase a different goal.”